Sally Yim Managing Director, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings

Sally Yim is a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group. Based in Hong Kong SAR, China, Sally is the Head of APAC Financial Institutions, responsible for Moody’s analytical teams covering ratings and research on APAC banks, insurance companies, and non-bank financial institutions such as securities and leasing companies. She is also a co-head of Moody’s Global Banking and Global Insurance & Asset Management rating franchises. In addition, Sally leads the Global Financial Institutions Group’s Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) efforts.

Sally joined Moody’s in February 2005 as an Associate Analyst in New York, covering property & casualty insurers. She transferred to Hong Kong in 2006 and completed a short stint in the Corporate Finance Group, supporting analysts in the
oil & gas, petrochemical and steel sectors. Sally rejoined the Financial Institutions Group as an Analyst in January 2007. Since then, Sally has covered various Asian financial institutions, including insurance companies, banks and securities firms and subsequently, became a manager overseeing various teams covering the ratings and research of Greater China and Korean financial institutions.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Sally worked as a Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young LLP in New York, specializing in private and public insurers. She also worked at Ernst & Young’s National Professional Practice, where she focused on technical accounting research, while assisting in accounting consultations.

Sally holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accounting from the University of Michigan. She is a CFA charterholder and also a Certified Public Accountant.

Carola Schuler Managing Director, EMEA Banking Moody's Ratings

Carola Schuler is a Managing Director in the Europe, Middle East and Africa banking team, based in Frankfurt. In this capacity, she is responsible for Moody’s analytical teams that rate banks primarily in the UK, the Eurozone and Central and Eastern Europe as well as non-bank financial companies across Europe. Carola has extensive experience in credit analysis and managing credit professionals.

Furthermore, Carola plays a leading role in Moody’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration efforts. Moody’s is committed to incorporating ESG risks into its credit analysis and Carola is one of Moody’s global coordinators of ESG analytical, research and outreach initiatives for financial institutions. 

Prior to joining Moody’s in 2008, Carola was a Director at the credit risk management division of Deutsche Bank where she worked in a number of different analytical and managerial functions in Germany and abroad, covering corporate finance, leveraged finance, financial institutions and sovereign risk across Europe, including time spent in Brussels (Belgium).

Carola has a double German-French Diploma in Business Administration from Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes (HTW), Saarbrücken /Germany and the University of Metz/ France.

Alessandro Roccati Senior Vice President, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings

Alessandro Roccati joined Moody’s in May 2012 as a Senior Vice President in the Financial Institutions Group, based in London. His portfolio includes large European banks. Prior to joining Moody’s, Alessandro spent fifteen years in equity research as a senior analyst covering European banks at global investment banks: Macquarie, Man Group, Credit Lyonnais and Nikko Securities. He started his career as a credit analyst covering European banks at UniCredito. Alessandro graduated in economics from Bocconi University in Milan. 

Lucia Lopez SVP-Global Head of Credit Sustainable Finance Moody's Ratings

Lucia Lopez is the Global Head of Credit in Moody’s Ratings Sustainable Finance group, managing a global team to integrate ESG considerations into credit ratings. Her team builds data platforms and produces thematic research to support Moody's thought leadership in ESG. Lucia frequently represents the firm in discussions with investors, policymakers, and other market participants. Before joining the Sustainable Finance team, she was a lead analyst in the EMEA Corporate Finance Group and worked for over 15 years at Deutsche Bank and Barclays as a senior credit officer. Lucia holds a Master's in European Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Brandan Holmes Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings

Brandan is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in the EMEA Insurance Team, with analytical responsibility for a range of (re)insurance ratings across the EMEA region.

Brandan joined Moody’s New York office in 2010, as an analyst responsible for a diverse portfolio of US insurance and reinsurance companies. Prior to joining Moody’s, he was Assured Guaranty Ltd., responsible for accounting policy and transaction advisory services. Brandan started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in South Africa, later transferring to the New York office where he was a manager in the Assurance practice, primarily responsible for the audits of life insurance companies. Brandan holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Pretoria and a MBA in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and a Certified Public Accountant (NY).

Nicholas Zhu Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings

Based in Beijing, Nicholas supports cross-border rating activities of Chinese banks. Previously, he was Moody’s key point of contact on the Chinese regional and local government sector.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Nicholas advised the Asian Development Bank on various China banking initiatives. He has extensive credit experience, having worked at HSBC, Standard Chartered and ANZ on a range of sectors and issues related to risk assessment for Basel II and other regulatory frameworks. Earlier in his career he was a senior economist with the World Bank.

Nicholas holds a Ph. D. in International Finance and M.A. in Economics from Georgetown University, and a B.S. in Mathematical Statistics from Sichuan University. He is also a CFA charter-holder.